Pixel Watch gets a new way to tell the time with ‘Vibration watch’

While we just had a Feature Drop last month, the Pixel Watch April 2024 update brings a new “Vibration watch” feature to both wearable generations.

To enable, go to system Settings > Vibration > Vibration watch. This feature lets you tap your watch face with two fingers to get the time as a series of haptic vibrations. A single tap returns the hour, while you can double-tap for minutes.

There are two “Vibration types”/patterns:

• Digits: Your watch gives a long vibration for 10 and a short vibration for one 
• Terse: Round current time to the nearest quarter hour. Your watch gives a short vibration for each 15-minute increment

Your Vibration speed options are: Very slow, Slow, Medium (default), Fast, and Very fast. Some owners had this feature active before today.

Surprisingly, this feature is available on the first-generation wearable. It more than works, but haptic performance is better on the Pixel Watch 2.

An issue I’ve come across in brief testing is how it’s easy to accidentally activate a complication or slide up the notification feed when tapping with two fingers. That might be exacerbated by how you might not be looking down at your watch when tapping.

This Vibration Watch capability somewhat makes up for how the Pixel Watch 2 did not get any new features last month, with the March Feature Drop focused on the original device.